


Paradigm Shift

by ifdragonscouldtalk



Series: DBH Brothers Whump AU [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Android Discrimination, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Whump, Connor Deserves Happiness, CyberLife Tower Connor is Conan, Explosions, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Impalement, M/M, Of Gavin and 900, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), RK900 is Nines, Whump, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 05:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16402550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifdragonscouldtalk/pseuds/ifdragonscouldtalk
Summary: “Where is he?” he asked angrily, and he saw one of them sneer as he pulled off his mask, sweat dripping down his face.“Still inside. It’s been impaled. I’m not going to risk my life for your tin-can of a ‘brother.’ Freaks.”Nines saw red, almost like he had when he broken down his programming the first time, and his fist connected with the man’s face faster than he could stop himself. Conan pulled him off, “accidentally” kicking the downed man in the side and making him groan angrily, and the fire chief stalked over.“What the hell are you doing?!”“They left my brother!” Conan shouted, angry and terrified tears streaming down his face as he pointed into the building. “They left my brother in there to die! Because we’re androids! I’ll kill them if he’s dead!”





	Paradigm Shift

The relative calmness of the station was shattered by a scream. 

Conan crumpled to the floor, his LED a pulsing red as he clutched at his hair, screaming uncontrollably. He didn’t need to breathe -- it went on and on and on. Nines was frozen, his face a mask of terror, eyes staring sightlessly. Gavin grabbed him, trying to get his attention, asking what was wrong. He got no answer. Chris Miller pulled Conan up off the floor and into a chair, trying to calm him down. Conan didn’t respond, rocking back and forth in the chair as he screamed, tears streaming down his face. 

“There’s been an explosion!” the receptionist called, her face a mask of fear and worry. “They’re requesting back-up to contain the crowds while the firemen do their work.” 

“Where?” Gavin called over Conan’s screams, his face pale, praying it wasn’t what he hoped. 

“An abandoned building near the south side -- they said if you head towards the Plaza you won’t be able to miss the smoke.” 

Gavin swore his heart stopped. Of course it was where Connor and Hank were. Why else would Conan be screaming? Why else would Nines be frozen? 

Except Nines wasn’t frozen anymore, darting past him and grabbing Conan’s hand, yanking his brother up as they ran out of the precinct. 

“Nines no!” Gavin shouted in the sudden silence, chasing after them, banging through the precinct doors to see an automated cab pull away from the sidewalk. It was definitely speeding. Nines must have hacked it. “Damn it, Nines!” Miller ran up beside him and he glanced over, running a hand through his hair. “Damn it! Miller, get everyone organized and down to the scene, I gotta go stop these plastic pricks from getting themselves killed!” 

* * *

 

Connor coughed, thirium dripping from the corners of his mouth. He wasn’t in good shape, he knew without having to scan. Pain set his body on fire, sharper and more agonizing than anything he had ever felt before. He could feel blue blood slipping sickeningly down the back of his neck -- he must have a decent sized dent in the back of his head. His LED was dark, shattered and covered in soot and blood, and his eyes were having trouble focusing. A scream escaped him as he tried to shift, and he looked down at his stomach to figure out what the problem was, his scans offline due to the damage his head sustained in the explosion. Fires were burning around him, illuminating the wide piece of rebar that had impaled his abdomen. Terror froze him despite the rising temperatures around him, and he grabbed the rebar with both hands to stabilize himself. Who knew what damage the metal was keeping in place? 

He had lost connection with Nines and Conan, a small link in the back of his mind they kept open. It was a comfort to all three of them, a reminder they were no longer alone. It was gone, probably due to the damage he had sustained, and trying to reestablish it would only overclock his systems. He left it, even though he felt cold and numb without it, and thought back. 

He and Hank had been following up on an anonymous tip and had just finished exploring the building when he had heard the beeping. His scan had revealed a small but deadly bomb and not enough time to get out or disarm it. He had shoved Hank out of the window -- he hoped he hadn’t hurt the human too much -- and was about to dive out himself when the building went up in flames. 

Now the frame was sagging around him, parts of a sky black with smoke peeking through the flames and ceiling. The second floor had collapsed completely, and he had fallen, which was likely how the rebar had come to be in his stomach. There were sirens and screams outside, he could barely hear them past the groaning of the building and the roaring of the flames -- how long had he been system restoring? There were faint voices through the fire, and he wondered if his vox modulator would work well enough to call out to them. 

“Help!” he screamed, his voice broken with static. “I’m over here! Help me!” 

“We’re coming!” someone shouted back. “Just sit tight!” 

He didn’t have much else he could do, shoving down the panic rising up in his throat and spitting blood out of his mouth. Three firemen made their way over to him, and he watched them take in the situation, the blue blood, the broken LED. 

“Hey kid,” one of them said. He couldn’t see enough of their faces to scan them. “What’s your name?” 

“Connor,” he replied. “M-my partner, Hank, I pushed him out the window, is he okay?” 

“Older guy?” 

“Yes.” 

“Yeah, he’s alright. Broken arm from the fall, couple burns from the debris that landed on him -- we found him under a ceiling tile. Pissed to hell though.” 

“Thank God,” Connor whispered, sagging slightly, keeping his grip tight around the rebar. “I don’t think it’d be a good idea to move me,” he said, fear present on his face. “I don’t know what’s damaged or what the rebar is holding closed, my internal diagnostics are offline.” 

“Alright kid,” the same one said. “Just sit tight, we’ll get someone in here with a saw and cut this shit off below you, and then we can get you out in one piece.” 

“The building isn’t structurally sound,” another one said softly, probably not intending for Connor to hear, after the building gave a loud groan and some crashing could be heard not far away. Another section of flooring collapsing. “We should leave it and get out of here.” The other one, probably the leader of the squad, shook his head. 

“You got any family kid?” he asked after he radioed for backup. Connor nodded hesitantly. 

“Two brothers,” he said slowly. One of the other firemen snorted in disbelief. Connor ignored him. “Conan and Nines. We all work at the police station.” 

“You like it there?” 

“I do. I like to help people. I like solving the crimes, and I like working with them and Hank.” The building gave another loud groan, physically shifting above them, and white hot fear ran down Connor’s spine. 

“We have to get out of here!” the one insisted again. 

“This is our job, this is what we signed up for,” the leader shot back angrily. 

“I didn’t sign up to save the life of a half-wit piece of metal!”  _ Oh God, _ Connor thought at that, tears starting to gather in his eyes.  _ I’m going to die here. They’re going to leave me. _

“You know what,” the leader said, “we’ll discuss your attitude and continued employment later. Get the fuck out of here and send me someone who wants to do their actual job.” Connor stared after them as the other two turned and left, carefully making their way out of the building. 

“You should go too,” he said, even though he didn’t want to, even though his voice was shaking. “The building is probably going to collapse. I don’t want you to get hurt.” 

“I ain’t leaving you kid. You deserve to live as much as the rest of us. We’ll get you out of here, don’t you worry.” 

* * *

 

“WHERE IS HE?” Nines roared angrily as soon as he jumped out of the taxi, scanning everyone in sight. Conan grabbed his arm, trying to calm him down even though he was still crying himself, following as he stalked over to the paramedics where Hank was lying on a gurney, his arm bandaged and several burns on his legs. “Where is he?!” he asked, quieter but no less calm, and Hank rubbed a hand over his face. 

“Still in there, I think,” he said with a nod towards the burning building. “He pushed me out of a window when he realized there was a bomb.” Nines glanced over at the building, scanning it. Structural integrity was less than 30% and declining fast. He shoved past the firemen trying to control the crowd as he saw two firemen in full gear exit the building, Conan following him just as urgently. 

“Where is he?” he asked angrily, and he saw one of them sneer as he pulled off his mask, sweat dripping down his face. 

“Still inside. It’s been impaled. I’m not going to risk my life for your tin-can of a ‘brother.’ Freaks.” 

Nines saw red, almost like he had when he broken down his programming the first time, and his fist connected with the man’s face faster than he could stop himself. Conan pulled him off, “accidentally” kicking the downed man in the side and making him groan angrily, and the fire chief stalked over. 

“What the hell are you doing?!” 

“They left my brother!” Conan shouted, angry and terrified tears streaming down his face as he pointed into the building. “They left my brother in there to die! Because we’re androids!  _ I’ll kill them if he’s dead! _ ” 

“Is that true?” The fire chief, Brett Parker, turned his formidable glare on the two, and they quailed under it. 

“It’s just an android, sir!” the one argued. “It shouldn’t even be alive anyway! Let it burn, I didn’t sign up to help androids. I signed up to help humans!” 

“We’re going to discuss this later,” Brett growled in a voice that clearly said ‘you’re fired.’ “In the meantime, make yourselves useful fighting the fire. You know, what you were hired to do? Harper, Lee, get in there! Manny must still be inside with the victim, he requested a saw, said the kid was stuck on a rebar.” 

“R-rebar?” Conan whispered. 

“Don’t you worry,” Brett said, turning back to them. “We’ll get him out of there- hey!” 

“Nines, don’t!” Gavin screamed across the lot as he jumped out of his car, watching Nines dive through the door to the building and into the flame. “ _ NINES! _ ” 

“No,” Conan choked out, Brett grabbing him around the waist as he struggled to follow his brother. “No, no no, no! You have to get them out! GET THEM OUT!” 

“We will! Hey, calm down! It’s alright! We’ll get them out!” 

“Sir, you shouldn’t be walking-”

“Fuck off!” Conan collapsed as Hank wrapped his arms around him, holding him tightly. The android sobbed, clutching at his friend’s arms. 

“I can’t lose them!” he wailed, and Hank hushed him softly, rocking him back and forth. “I can’t lose them!” 

* * *

 

“Kid, what are you doing in here?!” 

Connor had faded out, staring into the flames and losing himself to the pain, but was snapped back to harsh reality by Manny’s panicked voice, looking over just as Nines fell to his knees beside him, covered in soot, his face contorted in anger. 

“Nines,” he gasped, more blood dribbling from his lips. “W-What are you- Where’s Conan?! Why are you here?!” 

“They left you,” Nines hissed, scanning him before gently positioning his knees under his shoulders, giving him some support. It was nice, and Connor almost started crying. Nines’s LED was blood red, angry and bright. 

“You shouldn’t be here,” he choked out instead, looking up at his brother. For how much younger he was, he always acted so much more mature. “Nines, the building is going to come down.” 

“Yes. In approximately eight minutes.” He felt himself shudder in fear, wide eyes turning to Manny. He couldn’t see the man’s face, couldn’t scan his reaction. 

“Please, you have to go back out! Conan can’t lose you too!” 

“He’s not going to lose either one of us,” Nines said with conviction, but Connor wasn’t so sure. Even without his predictive capabilities, he knew the odds of him getting out of here were slim. He could feel his body starting to overheat, not painful like it would be for a human but certainly increasingly unpleasant, as his breathing picked up to the point of hyperventilation to try and cool him down. It wasn’t working. He was only breathing in more hot air and soot which would clog his filters and gunk up his thirium. He couldn’t tell his body that. It would certainly become painful soon. 

“Kid, you can’t be here,” Manny said. His voice was calm despite everything. “We’ll take care of your brother, but you need to leave.” 

“You can’t make me,” Nines replied, ice blue eyes piercing into him as he stroked a hand through Connor’s hair. “And you need someone who knows androids. You’re not going to be able to get him out of here with a bunch of humans.” 

“What makes you think that?” 

“The rebar is too close to vital structures, if it moves he could be in even more trouble than he’s in now. It’s completely severed his spinal structure, he won’t be able to walk and it would take two of you to carry him. It will only take one of me. He can’t help you find a safe path should the exit become blocked -- I can.” Nines said it clinically even as anger burned in his eyes, and Connor admired him even as he feared how well his brother could keep his emotions in check. Tears slipped down his cheeks and almost immediately evaporated in the heat. There was the buzzing of loose wires in his head, and he released one hand from the rebar numbly, grabbing Nines’ wrist where it rested near his ear. 

“What would you say if I told you I was scared?” he whispered. “Would you lose respect for me if I told you I was terrified?” 

“There is very little you could do to lose my respect, Connor,” Nines replied evenly, his eyes too watery to be unaffected. “I’m also scared. I... I don’t even want to think about the possibility of losing you or Conan. It isn’t an option for me. ...Hank would say that being scared is a part of living.” 

“Hank is very wise,” Connor giggled slightly, unable to stop the tears from falling. “You always make me look like a bad big brother.” 

“Don’t say that.” Nines frowned, rubbing the tears from Connor’s cheek with his thumb. “I would be nothing without what you did for me. And Conan adores you.” He glanced up to see Harper and Lee had arrived with a saw, and Connor started when they began to lay fire retardant drapes over him to protect from the sparks while they were cutting. He hadn’t noticed they were there. Sharp, cold fear ran through Nines’ core at the realization; he swallowed it down, glancing up to check the structural integrity of the building. They had six minutes. He met eyes with Manny, and saw the man nod, his eyes wide and focused. 

“Let’s get a move on, y’all,” Manny said, and reached down under Connor to help support him. “This might be uncomfortable, but we’ll be through with it really soon, Connor. Try to stay still.” Connor nodded, his eyes wide with fear. Nines could feel heat pouring off him where his hands were resting on his forehead, his core temperature starting to rise. 

The saw started up, and sparks lit up the air, and Connor  _ screamed _ . 

* * *

 

They had wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, and let him sit on the gurney with Hank. Hank held him, arms wrapped around him tightly, and he buried his face in the older man’s chest, sobbing uncontrollably. 

“I can’t lose them,” Conan sobbed weakly. “Hank, I don’t know what to do without either of them.” 

“They’ll be fine,” Hank reassured, threading his fingers through his curls. “You know them, Cona. They’re both stubborn as a mule. Nines will get them out.” Gavin ran a hand up and down his spine, silent, staring into the bright fires until he had to look away, blaming the tears on the light burning his eyes. 

“What if they aren’t?” Conan whispered. “What do I do? I don’t know who I am without them. I don’t know.” 

“It’s not going to come to that,” Gavin said firmly. “But if it does, you’ll figure it out. And we’ll help you, Hank and I and the precinct, and Markus and the crew. You’re not alone, even when Nines and Connor aren’t here.” Another sob escaped, exhausted and afraid. Hank pressed a comforting kiss into his hair, and they fell silent. 

Until Conan’s head popped up, face streaked with tears and LED red, staring at the collapsing building, trembles wracking his frame. “What’s wrong?” Gavin prompted. 

“He’s... Connor’s s-screaming.” 

* * *

 

He could feel the vibrations up through his body, into his chest, rocking around components and wires and beating in opposition with his heart. He screamed, sharp and piercing, as if it would lower the pain, like if he just screamed long enough and loud enough the vibrations of the saw would stop and the bar would snap off inside him, and everything would go numb. One hand was still wrapped around the metal, gripping it spasmodically, one clutched in Nines’ own. He could feel his brother’s hand in his hair, stroking, could hear him speaking quietly to him, but couldn’t process what he was saying. 

He wished he could fall unconscious. 

It can’t have taken more than two minutes, but neither had the fight in the Zen Garden; both were some of the longest minutes of his life. He thought he heard himself speaking, random nonsense words, and something told him that in a human this wouldn’t hurt so much, that the unerring grinding of metal vibrating against metal wouldn’t bother them, and their nerves wouldn’t be able to pick up on the torturous cutting as well as he could. 

It took him a few seconds to realize the saw had stopped, panting and sobbing and clutching at Nines desperately. The fireman gently turned him onto his side and he whimpered. The other two looked shaken, their hands trembling slightly. 

“We need to hurry,” Nines said, and Connor was being lifted, hefted up into his younger brother’s arms. He curled around Nines’ neck, breathless with pain, and hid his dirtied face in his shoulder. 

The light outside blinded him and he squeezed his eyes shut, the noises of the sirens and the crowd and the building creaking and collapsing behind them assaulting him. He was placed on a gurney and came back to himself with a jolt, reaching out for Nines as he stepped back, only for Conan to throw himself at his hand, sobbing uncontrollably. 

“Connor,” he cried, clutching his hand as the technicians strapped him into the gurney, working carefully around the bar still in his abdomen. He flinched as they started packing the wound, clutching at Conan just as tightly. 

“It’s okay,” he whispered, even though he couldn’t really believe it. He took in Conan’s relieved face, and Hank and Gavin standing behind him, and his eyes rolled back, dead to the world. 

* * *

 

Gavin watched them emerge from the building, watched Conan stand and run over, throwing himself first at Nines and then at Connor as the emergency technicians worked around him. He had never seen Nines so disheveled, covered in ash with his hair falling in loose curls like his brothers preferred to wear, his clothes scorched and ruined, a faraway look in his eyes. His LED was yellow. Gavin walked up beside him, grabbing his arm. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly. Nines met his eyes, sky blue marred with smoke, terror clear on his face. 

Gavin caught him as Nines collapsed against him, gripping the lapels of his jacket and sobbing into his chest. He held him tightly, rubbing up and down his back, kissing his temple and muttering inconsequential condolences. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Connor passed out and Hank pulled Conan away so the technicians could work before gently trying to lift Nines’ face, a hand under his chin. 

“I could’ve lost him,” Nines choked out, tears cutting through the grime on his face. Gavin thought it was the only time he had ever seen him cry. 

“Yeah, you could’ve,” he said simply. “But you didn’t. You saved him, Nines.” 

“I don’t want to lose them!” 

“You won’t. Not as long as you keep fighting for each other. Even when you’re apart, you three are never alone.” He tilted his head, stroking his thumb along Nines’ cheek. “And you have me, if you ever need me. If there ever comes a time when... when you do have to face the inconceivable.” 

“I... I love you,” Nines whispered, his eyes wide with shock, like he had just realized it himself. Gavin suppressed the doofy grin it brought to his face, smiling softly at the distraught android that he had been taking out for the past two months, the relationship they had been hiding from his family. 

“I know,” he whispered back, pressing their foreheads together. “I’ve known for awhile now. I love you too.” 

“How did you know when I didn’t?” 

“You look at me the same way you look at Connor and Conan. The same way you look at Sumo, and the android children in the park.” Nines looked at him like he had hung the sun, glancing over as they began to load Connor into the ambulance, wiping tears and soot off his face. 

“I don’t want to lose you either,” he admitted as he looked back, and Gavin felt something warm inside him. 

“You won’t,” he promised. “You won’t lose any of us, if we can help it.” He wrapped a hand around the back of of the android’s neck, stroking the soft hairs there and gently reeling him in, giving him plenty of time to pull away. 

He didn’t. 

Nines closed his eyes, sagging into the kiss, letting Gavin hold him closely, giving himself over to the affection. It was rare, even when they were alone, for Nines to let himself be so vulnerable, and Gavin was grateful for the trust. He pulled away, pressing his forehead to Nines’ chest, and felt his shoulders shake. 

“Please,” he said, his voice cracking slightly, “please don’t pull any shit like that again. I can’t... I can’t stand it when you do those reckless things.” 

“I can’t promise that,” Nines said after a moment. “But I can promise I’ll always try to come back to you.” 

“Are you two dating?” Gavin looked up to see Conan’s surprised face, still tear stained, LED still yellow. He always had been the least perceptive of the three. Gavin reeled him into a hug, smoothing down his hair and grinning at Nines. 

“Let’s get to the hospital.” 

* * *

 

Hank watched as Gavin tried to shift without waking the exhausted android curled in his lap, grinning wryly. Nines had slowly migrated from his own chair to Gavin’s, sleep overtaking him, and had ended up half draped across the shorter man with his hand fisted in his shirt, and Gavin stroking his hair. Conan had taken to the floor without any shame in the empty waiting room, stretched out at their feet with his face covered by his jacket and his head pillowed in his arms, LED pulsing slowly. 

“Having trouble?” he asked quietly across the room, and Gavin scowled at him. 

“He needs to lose some weight.” He stifled a laugh, shaking his head and running a hand through his unruly hair. The three had been urging him to cut it into something more manageable and professional, but he had been putting them off. He watched as Gavin looked back down at Nines, his face softening as he gently rubbed his fingers against his scalp and Nines sighed gently in his sleep. 

“How long?” 

“Two months, officially. It’s not like I’ve been subtle with the pining though.” 

“Nothing gets past these three, unless it pertains to their own personal lives.” Gavin snorted softly and shook his head. 

“Conan started screaming,” he whispered after a moment. “Just broke down in the middle of the precinct, and we couldn’t get Nines to move, or them to explain. And then they just took off, and I... I watched him dive into that building, and I thought...” He stopped, his hand stilling, and looked up at Hank. Hank watched curiously. 

“If you had told me a year ago that I would still be kicking, that the revolution would win and androids... And that you and three androids would be the most important people in my life, and I would be dating one, I would’ve knifed you.” Hank nodded. 

“I understand.” He looked down at Conan, who was dead to the world, his mind running over Connor and what he had to go through, what they might be doing to him in surgery. “Everything is completely different; and you wonder how you survived the way it was before.” 

“I wasn’t,” Gavin answered honestly. Hank met his eyes. 

“Neither was I.” 

“Connor?” a nurse asked, and Hank stood with a sigh. 

“We really need to get them registered already.” 

“They gonna take your last name?” 

“If they want. Connor wants to.” 

“Aww, you gonna be their daddy?” 

“Shut up asshole. You know it’s not like that.” He rolled his eyes. “Excuse him. I’m Connor’s partner.” 

“Of course,” the nurse replied with a hint of amusement. “Connor did remarkably well, we were able to repair most of the damage. I’ll be honest that we weren’t optimistic, so this is very good. He will have to stay a few days to ensure that his biocomponents and processors recalibrate correctly and his healing program reinitiates, but then he should be fine to go home and it shouldn’t take him more than a week for him to be medically cleared to return to duty. We do suggest that he sees a therapist since this was a significant trauma.” 

“It’s required by the department for him to be cleared,” Hank assured. “May we see him?” 

“We’d prefer that it only be one at a time to keep him from getting too excited so he can rest, but yes, you can see him and stay with him.” 

“Thank you.” He turned back to Gavin, who was staring down at the brothers again, an unbelievably fond look on his face. “You want to wake them up?” 

“I’ll let them sleep for a couple more minutes. It’s been a day. You go see him.” Hank nodded and followed the nurse back to Connor’s room. 

He was lying peacefully, is LED blue with flicker of yellow, cleaned up and looking almost normal. His skin was paler than usual, his abdomen padded with bandages, but no worse for wear. Hank pulled up a chair and sat next to him, reaching out to gently touch his arm and watching as his LED cycled, eyes slowly opening. 

“Hank,” he croaked out with no small relief, a small smile gracing his face. “You’re okay.” 

“Just a few burns, a broken arm. No big deal.” His eyes went wide and sad. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” 

“Con, you saved me. Don’t ever apologize for that.” He squeezed his arm, moving some wayward curls off the younger man’s forehead. “But don’t pull shit like that again. You scared the fuck out of all of us, especially Nines and Conan.” 

“I can’t promise that,” Connor said regretfully. “I’ll never stop saving the people I love, or feel sorry for that.” Hank blinked, closing his eyes to keep from tearing up, the stress of the day and the earnestness of his friend catching up to him. 

“Thank you,” he said softly.

“Is Nines alright? Is Conan?” 

“They both fell asleep pretty soon after we got here. Gavin is going to wake them up and they can see you soon.” Connor studied his face, brown eyes searching, always searching. 

“I didn’t mean to hurt them.” 

“It was nothing you or they could help. They were scared, they didn’t want to lose you. I was scared too. All you can do is apologize and move forward, and remind them how much you love them.” Connor tilted his head, like he always did when he was thinking, before nodding. “How’s your pain?” 

“Minimal. I thought... I thought maybe I wouldn’t make it. But I couldn’t leave them. I couldn’t leave everyone.” Hank didn’t have anything to say to that. He stood, pressing a kiss to Connor’s forehead that made him light up like the sun. 

“I’ll go get Nines.” 

He walked out swamped in thought, leaning against the doorway when he spotted Gavin gently rousing Nines out of his sleep, fixing his hair with a smile and pressing a kiss to the corner of his lip, talking quietly with one another. It was almost peaceful, and he realized even when a paradigm shifts, love can persevere. 


End file.
